Purely Commentary

Autobiography of Eminent
Zionist Leader . . 'History
of Tragic Jewish Experience

By Philip

Slomovitz

Lost Israel Soldiers
Sought on Border;
May Have Crossed

Many other aspects of Jewish life are under review in this partial
Shmarya Levin's Autobiography in Excellent
cL.
-aptso of the life of a great advocate of Jewish national redemption
(Meet STA Teletype Wire
Translation Into English by Maurice Samuel
to The Jewish News)
who major role was as a lecturer, as a propagandists, -- indeed, as
Jewisa history is being enriched with the popularization of the a teacher. His story remains uncompleted: perhaps Maurice Samuel
TEL AVIV—UN cease-fire ob-
classics The Jewish Publication Scelety, its Lame indelibly recorded has the manusdpts for the balance of the 30 years of Levin's life servers were asked by Israel to
with the seiblication of imperils 11,1.1e
-
works — Graetz's ifustory of the which would provide his retained views on the First World War, determine the fate of two Israeli
Jews, DuirrioWs History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Louis Giraz. on the Balfour Declaration. more about Weirmann, on the difficulties soldiers, one a regular and the
berg s I. aids of the Jews — ow bas attained a new 'nag% mark that were encountered in the building of the Jewish National Home other a reservist, who lost their
in Jewish p..k.iiithing ventures by is-
and on the emergence of Hitlerism. He died in 1935 and there must way Monday while returning to
sJing the A..noblography of Shmarya
surely be many more chapters available to offer a completed story of their base from an outpost on Mt.
Already having enriched Jew-
Herman. It is believed that they
the life of a great scholar and a great tribune of his people.
•
ish sehelarship with two Lotewortby
•
•
may have wandered across the
translations of the Bi1.1e—the revised
cease-fire
line but the UN observers
The masterful translation by Maurice Samuel must not be over-
English text of the Tons already hay
looked. And the explanatory commentary contained in Samuel's intro- received no reply to their inquiries
ing appeared and the Prophets soon
from
Syrian
or Lebanese authori-
duction should not be missed.
ties. A search for the missing
to be mad.: a•ailable in a revision
Samuel is the great admirer who recognizes the genius of the man
that being awaited by English-
whose autobiography, written 40 or more years ago, touches upon soldiers within the Israeli-held area
speaking Jewries — - Forward From
proved fruitless.
events of a bygone age. But they refer to pettiness in Jewish ranks,
Exile," the story of the life of ore
Two Israeli comm and cars
shtadianim who sought to speak as in-
of the geniuses of the present century
strayed across the cease-fire line
dividuals for all of Jewry when faced
is certain to be rated among the very.
n or t h of Kuneitra in occupied
with Jewish problems, to the relation.
great literary offerings of the IPS.
Syrian territory Monday night and
ship between Jews and apostates—the
remained stuck in mud Tuesday
Combined in this autobiographical
latter having abandoned Judaism out of
as Israeli authorities asked the UN
work is the story of the great scholar
convenience but still were not accepted
cease fire observers to n o t if y
and orator, br. Shmarya Levin and his
in non-Jewish ranks.
Syrian authorities of the error.
equally eminent translator, Maurice
Levin's
early
life
in
Svislowitz
covers
An Israeli soldier in one of the
Sam _lel : who is in his own right one
Shmarya Levin
cars was wounded when the
of the most distinguished intrepreters of Jewish issues and values a large portion of his life's story. In
Samuel's introduction we have commen
vehicles were fired on while at-
in our time.
on that era that add to a comprehension
tempting to return to the Israel
Shmarya Lesdn'a autobiography appears in the 100th year of his of an era long dead that nevertheless
side of the line.
birth. It covers his childhood, his early studies and his university left its mark on Jewish history.
career, his. Zionist endeavors through the Hibath Zion, his association
Once again, a brilliant translation
with Theodor Herzl soon after the founding of the World ionist Move-
ment and his friendships with many of the leading early Zionists and by Maurice Samuel makes us deeply in-
debted to him.
his election to the First Russian Duma.

The brilliance of the child, who masters Hebrew and soon makes
it his major love, soon is matched by his yearning for understanding
of human values and his refusal to conform, He challenges some of
the conflicting stories in the Bible. He is the devout youngster who
wishes to know and to understand.

It in this desire that leads him to higher learning, to the univer-
sity in Berlin, to refusal to enter his father's business. It is also a
contributing factor to some disillusionment and a partial failure to
pursue tasks assuring a good livelihood. Out of that despair there
even develops a willingness to become a melamed—to pursue what
was then the lowly life of a teacher of Jewish children .

Eventually he becomes a kazonnye rabbis—a government rabbi —
which provides a very meager income but gives him an opportunity to
teach, to lecture, to preach. Even this is denied him when he is in
Grodno where he meets with many disappointments. But in Ekaterino-
slav and later in Valna he attains his goal—lecturing, propagandizing
fez the Jewish national movement which was later to develop into
Zioni sm.

Briefly analyzed, his Zionist activities leads him to the forum
where he meets the greatest figure in the movement. lie becomes
one of the secretaries of the third World Zionist Congress and he is
the leader of the opposition to the Uganda colonization plan which
Herd accepted as a half-way measure, to speed the rescue of persecuted
Jews, while still retaining the Zionist ideal for a Jewish Palestine.
That plan soon was abandoned.

Then came Shmarya Levin's role in Russian politics and his elec-
tion to the short-lived Duma. His life's story ends with "The Great
Swindler" — the Russian Czar Nicholas II's dissolution of the Duma.
The final words of "Forward From Exile" are about this Czar: "He
swindled, and swindled again and kept on swindling until the Red Sea
swallowed him up." What a great story Shmayra Levin had to tell
as a follow-up to that swindle! But this is where his autobiography
published by the Jewish Publication Society and excellently trans-
lated by Maurice Samuel ends. But in the course of telling his story
the great scholar portrays the life of the largest segment of world
Jewry and comments on major developments.

•

•

•

There is also an added personal note
by Meyer W. Weisgal who recalls his
earliest associations with Shmayra Levin,
who adds a note about Chaim Weiz-
mann's admiration for Levin and who Maurice Samuel
quotes Weizmann as having written about him that he was "both
teacher and artist, with the skill of the first and the temperamental
quirks of the second."
This personal note, too, implements both biography and commentary
by the translator In good fashion.
•
•
•

Perhaps it would be in order for this reviewer also to comment
upon the Shamyra Levin saga. I was president of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of Detroit when, in 1920, he, together with Louis Lipsky, ad-
dressed a meeting I chaired at which Levin appealed for his project
for a Hebrew publishing house in Tel Aviv. He distressed and dis-
couraged. The response was meager. How many really understood
Hebrew or wanted it? And wasn't Zionism a minority even then?
His aspirations are being realized. His dreams are fulfilled. Had
he foreseen them? He never abandoned hope, but he labored with
disillusionment: his people, after all, were blind to the opportunities
—until the era of Hitler and the emergence of Israel. •

•

•

•

Israeli Suggests
Flooding Jordan
to Stop Raiders

HAIFA—Arab saboteurs raiding
across the Jordan River into the
Beisan Valley could be stopped
with a flood—and Dr. Curt Nay-
ratzki, a retired water economy
adviser to the government thinks
he knows how it can be done.
Dr. Navratzki, 82, who worked
on Jordan development projects
for 30 years, suggests that Israeli
authorities open the sluice gates
at the Sea of Galilee and divert
waters from the Yarmuk River to
flood the Jordan 7 or 8 feet to
slow down raiders.
At times, the Jordan is easily
fordable at many points. Flooding
it would leave only a half dozen
crossings which could be sealed
off by soldiers. Military experts
are impressed with the idea and
are studying its feasibility.

Classic Story With Moral for All Time
Told to Russian Duma by Shmarya Levin

In his autobiography, issued by the Jewish Publication Society of America in a translation by Maurice
Samuel under the title "Forward From Exile," Dr. Shmarya Levin related how the first Russian Duma, in
1905, found itself in difficulty in planning for the solution of the pressing anti-Semitic issues stemming from
the throne and the agragarian problems. He described Czar Nicholas H as "the great swindler" who was
motivated by vengeance for having been forced into calling a democratically elected parliament into ses-
sion. It was to be a short-lived parliament. Dr. Levin refered to the memoirs of Count Witte. Having listened
to the Czar's speech to the Duma, Dr. Levin wrote that "the blank face covered a studied desire for re-
venge" and he proceeded to point out: "Witte, who knew him better than any other man, says of him that
he was the most bitterly vengeful of all the Romanovs." Dr. Levin then described the Duma session and
recorded a story he told at the Cadet session of Duma members in which he narated a story that has a
moral for all time:

He paints a portrait of Jewry in the Diaspora that should arouse
the interest of sociologists everywhere. It is a magnificent portrayal.
And while describing the approach to the masses among whom he
lived and labored Levin observed how the rich clashed with the poor,
how assimilation crept into Jewish ranks, the tragedy of renegades
In the (Czar's) speech from the throne, as in the October manifesto, the Jews were not mentioned.
from Judaism, the blindness of the masses in their approaCh to The government believed in adding contemptuous insult to injury: Jews could not be mentioned in important
Zionism.
documents like these. The answer to the speech from the throne was composed largely by Maxim Vinaver,
It was an uphill struggle to gain the will of the masses in efforts and in it appears the categorical statement that there can be no talk of a regular constitution for the coun-
for self-liberation. Only when the pogroms began to spread, when try without civic equality for all its inhabitants. Once more, in its reply, the government Ignored the point,
knife was on throat, where commenced the large immigration move- and Vinaver, in the Duma, made perhaps the strongest speech of his career, declaring openly: "Let the
ment towards America. Palestine's conditions were not favorable, government know, once for all, that without civic equality there can be no tranquility in this country."
else even under conditions of indifference Levin believed that Jews
The Cadets and the Trudoviki were united on this point, but they were divided on the order of
might have gone to the Holy Land.
procedure. Was the question of civic equality—which meant, of course, the Jews—to take precedence
Meanwhile he labored for the cause and made strong friend- over the agrarian question, which was the burning question of the day for all Russia? The Russian
ships — Simon Dubnow, Menahem Ussishkin, Ahad Ha-aim, Chaim muzlillz, who represented more than three-quarters of the population, was crying out for land. The division
Weizmann, Leo Pinkser, scores of men who dedicated themselves to of land had created injustices which it was difficult to look upon without feelings of revolt and disgust.
While gigantic estates had accumulated in the hands of the aristocracy, the peasants were compelled to
the national cause; including leaders in the Hebraist movement.
work tiny plots which could not provide the barest necessities for themselves and their families. Not only
Eventually mastering Yiddish, German, Russian, it is his love for the Trudoviki, but many of the leftist Cadets, were inclined to place the agrarian question first. But all of
Hebrew that is emphasized in his autobiography. He speaks of the the Jewish deputies, and most all of the Cadets, were afraid of the attitude of the muxhik delegates in
language with great affection and he places emphasis on its major the matter of equality of rights. In their opinion it would be the wiser course to proceed with the Jewish
significance in the movement for the strengthening of Jewish devotions question first. I took part in the debates in the sessions of the Cadet caucus. Instead of using arguments, I
and loyalties.
asked the permission of the assmbly to tell a Jewish story and, weary with the monotonous debates, the
His analyses of the role of the teacher of Jewish children in the delegates signified their assent.
Rusaiiin communities—the melamed who had the freedom to resort
It was a rather difficulty story to tell, for I had first explain certain Jewish laws and customs. One
to corporal punishment—makes his study of teaching and learning of these laws is that on the Sabbath the Jew may not kindle a light, even through the agency of a non-Jew.
a superb portion of a great book.
Having explained this I went on to describe the dreariness of the long Friday nights in the winter. At five
Especially valuable for students of Jewish history and the political o'clock in the afternoon the prayers are over and the Sabbath has begun. At six o'clock the family meal is
developments of the last 100 years is the contrast the delineates of ever, and then follows sleep. At twelve they are through with sleeping, and there remain seven or eight
the Zionist and Bund movements. Both were born in the same year hours of darkness. The poor cannot afford to leave a light burning through the night. This is the privilege
and the struggle developed between them. Levin shows how the Bund of the "rich." One such "rich" Jew rose one Friday at midnight and saw to his horror that the light
had gone out. He had a gentile servant in the house, but it is forbidden to direct the servant to light the
inconsistently soon adopted a national-cultural platform while oppos-
lamp. The Jew cast about in his mind and suddenly called loudly to the servant: "Ivan, bow would you like
ing Zionism. It becomes evident from this and other social studies how
a
drop of whisky?" Ivan did not mind being roused out of the deepest slumber for the sake of a drop.
the opportunity for Jewish national redemption was missed by failure
to gain the wholehearted support of the Jewish masses—support that "Thank you," says Ivan, "I'd love it." "But it's dark," his master answers, "I can't find a thing." "That's
perfectly
all right," says Ivan, "I'll make a light." The Jew is delighted; he has not told Ivan to kindle the
was to come much later. But in his entire career Levin met with
obstacles to Zionism that proved that only a minority supported the lamp. The lamp is lit, the drink is poured out. Ivan swallows the drink gratefully, hands back the glass
—and extinguishes the light. "Be careful with Ivan," I warned the Cadets. "He may get what he wants
great cause.
and then put out the light again." I was told that my story had its effect. The problem was taken more
2 — Friday, December 1, 1967
TIE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS seriously.

